In our last post, we covered the importance of Google reviews and why your business should be focusing on them (plus three ways to get them). If you haven’t read that post yet, take a second and check it out! You can find it here.
Today we want to shift our focus on what you should be doing once you get the reviews, because if you’re not implementing your Google reviews, you’re wasting valuable resources. If you’re ready to take advantage of simple resources that could positively impact your business—read on!
You Have Google Reviews—Now What?
So, you have some solid customer reviews on Google! But now what?
Well the good news is that just having the reviews is already doing work for your business! When you have up to date Google reviews, your business will benefit from SEO, site traffic, sales, and a good reputation!
But at ContentFirst.Marketing we don’t want to stop there, as we help our clients get the most out of Google reviews!
As an example of the power of reviews, do you have some foodie friends who know all the great new places to eat? You would trust their opinion and would go to any place they recommend. Word of mouth has been around quite a while! And Google reviews is the new virtual form of recommendations!
Based on this, we know that positive customer reviews can strengthen brand loyalty and increase sales; like we said, word-of-mouth advertising is a powerful tool.
And any business, large or small, can benefit from reviews – even negative ones. There is always room for improvement, and customer feedback is the way to get there.
Here are some ways we like to use Google reviews in marketing strategies.
1. Share on Social Media
It doesn’t take an expert to tell you how important social media presence is to brand image, but it can be difficult to come up with consistent content to share across social platforms.
Throwing positive customer reviews into your mix of social posts is a great way to increase brand loyalty while mixing up your content. It’s also an easy way to catch prospects’ attention!
2. Include in E-mails
E-mails are great ways to connect with customers and prospects and gives those curious about your offerings a convenient way to see what they can expect when they support your brand.
Share a stellar review and give prospects a taste of what they can expect from your business!
3. Offer Something
Depending on your industry and specific offering, you can give discounts for reviews, add bonuses to future orders, or even enter reviews into a contest.
The incentive option you go with will vary greatly on your business type and customer base, but we can help you choose an option that best fits your brand.
4. Use in Search Ads
Regular reviews can help freshen up your rank in search engines and catch users’ attention when they are searching for information. This gives you an upper hand on competitors as you’re already building trust while getting your name out there.
It can also give you a positive image before prospects even visit your site.
5. Include on Your Website
Testimonials are essential for many industries and up-to-date Google reviews are an easy addition to any homepage.
Draw your prospects in and let your positive feedback from past clients do some heavy lifting when it comes to converting prospects into loyal brand supporters. After all, the new word of mouth means not even having to pick up the phone!
There is a variety of methods to utilize Google reviews for attracting customers to your business. Let the team at ContentFirst.Marketing help you decide which strategy makes the most sense for your brand!
Before we wrap up, we want to go over a few important things that could sink your Google reviews and reputation if not handled correctly.
While Google reviews seem simple enough, they are powerful. If you decide to put an emphasis on growing your reviews, there are some tips you’ll need to keep in mind.
Regularly monitor reviews
An easy way to build a good reputation? Be responsive to your reviews. Designate a team member to respond to reviews once or twice a week and have a set of appropriate responses that can be modified to fit reviews.
Keep the negativity offline
Patience and professionalism are key here, and even if someone writes a harsh review, customers will tend to side with the other reviewer and not the business.
Do your best to reconcile with negative reviewers offline; this also gives you an opportunity to see where things went wrong and clear up any miscommunication. If you do respond to the negative review in front of the whole world, make sure you say something like “contact us and we’ll be happy to help fix the problem”, always keeping communication professional.
Don’t copy and paste replies
While it’s time efficient to have a script, you don’t want to come off as a robot. Make sure your replies still feel personal.
Watch comments for language
Remove hate language, profanity, and other inflammatory statements. While you can’t edit a review, we recommend deleting the whole thing if it includes hate speech.
This may seem like a lot of information, but we can help! We’ll take you through all the basics of Google reviews and show you just how we plan to implement them into your marketing strategy.
We’re Here to Help!
Still have questions about Google reviews? We’d love to discuss it with you. Schedule a call with our team of experts today! You can use our easy online scheduling tool here or give us a call directly at 214-385-2881.
